Transfer methods are widely utilized to form patterns or characters on the surface of an article such as a household electric appliance, a cosmetic container, ornaments or the like. Fundamentally, a transferring member to be used in transferring method has a construction comprising a in transferring layer such as a pattern layer and an adhesive layer formed on a release sheet. The transferring member may include a surface protecting layer as necessary or may not include the adhesive layer when the pattern layer has an adhesive property. As transfer methods, a roll transfer method and an up-down transfer method are well known and utilized for many articles such as household electric appliances, cosmetic containers, sundry goods or the like. According to these transfer methods, a pressurizing member such as a roller or a member moving vertically presses a heated silicon rubber provided on the transferring member against a material (or article) so that the pattern of the transferring member is transferred to the material. In the roll transfer method, the thickness of the silicon rubber is in the range from 10 mm to 50 mm and the hardness thereof is in the range from 60.degree. to 90.degree.. In the up-down transfer method, the thickness of the silicon rubber is in the range from 2 to 5 mm and the hardness thereof is in the range from 60.degree. to 90.degree..
However, in these transfer methods, since the contact surface of the silicon rubber serving as a heat source is linear or flat, the configuration of the material (or article) to which the pattern of the transferring member is to be transferred is limited to a two-dimensional curved surface or a flat surface. Thus, it is difficult to transfer the pattern of the transferring member to a three-dimensional material.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem and provide a transferring apparatus and a transferring method for easily and reliably transferring the pattern of a transferring member to a material (or article) in a three-dimensional configuration.